Belmullet is gearing up for a momentous 2024

A hugely exciting year lies ahead for Belmullet.

The Erris capital will be 200 years old in 2024 with next year marking Belmullet’s establishment as a planned town.

To co-ordinate the celebrations, the Belmullet 200 committee has been set up and is backed and supported by the wider community.

The rich history of Belmullet and the entire barony will be honoured throughout the year with a spotlight shone on some of the unique traditions that make this amazing Atlantic outpost such a special place. The local community and the vast diaspora will be at the heart of what promises to be a momentous year for the coastal town and the Erris region. Organisers say it will be a celebration of the cultural heritage of Erris coupled with the establishment of the town.

Established in 1824, when Belmullet first sprouted to life it was described as being like a ‘mirage’ in the wild and beautiful landscape that surrounds it.

Belmullet’s birth as a planned town was driven by landowner William Henry Carter. Based in Castlemartin, Co Kildare, he inherited huge tracts of land in Erris when he married the daughter of Sir Arthur Shaen. Carter set about modelling a town that was more closely related to European urban projects of the time.

Mark Ruddy, a local architect and member of the Belmullet 200 committee, explains that Carter’s vision was innovative and ambitious.

“On May 1, 1824, William Henry Carter arrived with his agents on the newly completed road from Castlebar. There was no road into the vast region of Erris prior to 1824 and the carriage that Carter arrived in was the first carriage ever seen in the whole barony,” said Mark.

Carter tasked engineer and Castlebar native Patrick Knight to design a planned town at this strategic location between Broadhaven and Blacksod bays. 

“At that time, it was an impassable marsh,” said Mark.

Progress was incredibly swift and the architectural plans were immaculately executed. 

“This was an exemplary planned town and I’m not just saying that because I’m a Belmullet man,” said Mark.

The designers managed to construct a perfectly structured grid plan town on the challenging terrain of a polder.

“Within three to four years you had 100-120 houses built,” said Mark.

Belmullet was the last of the planned towns in the Ireland of that era.

The first event of what promises to be an action-packed year for Belmullet will be staged on New Year’s Day.

The Bicentenary Ball in the Broadhaven Bay Hotel will kickstart an exciting 2024 for Belmullet. Music will be provided by the renowned Camembert Quartet with special guest singer Buck Taylor.

It is just the first of a thrilling calendar of events that will be staged over the following 12 months.

“This will be a year of community and cultural celebration. We want to bring the community together from the word go and celebrate our cultural identity,” said Mark.

On the May Bank Holiday Weekend, Belmullet will play host to the county’s flagship event, Mayo Day 2024, while St Patrick’s Day promises to be extra special in the barony. The parade will be staged on the water with a flotilla running from the town pier through the canal to the Docks.

Traditions from the past are set to be reimagined and reinterpreted and the town’s Gaeltacht heritage will be heralded.

“Our past is really going to be celebrated. On New Year’s Eve, we have one of these small traditions where the community goes out on the street and makes noise to welcome in the New Year. The biscuit tins from Christmas and the pots and pans will come out. This was a tradition that carried through from Celtic times," explained Mark.

“On January 15, we will celebrate ‘Marking Day’. The 15th of each month was always the Market Day but this one is ‘Marking Day’ where children and the rogues of the town would go around with chalk. This was a tradition that carried on until the 1980s and is still very much in the memory of the townspeople. You were told: ‘Don’t wear your good coat on January 15 because it’s going to get ruined!” said Mark.

Festival week in August when so many of the Erris diaspora return home will be bigger and better than ever before to mark this unique year for Belmullet.

“That diaspora is such a major part of our community here,” said Mark.

The year-long festivities promise to provide a huge boost to the local economy and tourism in the region.

“The establishment of Belmullet as a planned town threw open the wider barony of Erris to the world. Belmullet 200 will once again showcase to the world what we have here and what makes this corner of Mayo so special,” said Mark.